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The Salatim with hummus-tehina and Laffa bread, right, at Zahav in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.
The Salatim with hummus-tehina and Laffa bread, right, at Zahav in Philadelphia, Pa. on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer
The 76 BadgeCraig LaBan’s Top 10

Zahav

Featured on The 76
Featured on Craig LaBan’s Top 10
Center CityIsraeli, Mediterranean$$$$

The parade of excellence that emanates from Zahav's kitchen starts with the tried-and-true salatim (the tehina-coated beets and Moroccan carrots reliably make converts of the root vegetable-averse), a cavernous bowl of hummus, and puffy, oil-slicked laffa bread. You might think that after 16 years, the Zahav experience could get stale, but after that classic first course, the kitchen dishes out one magical surprise after the next: local figs with slices of veal, dehydrated watermelon with pickled rind, warm dates stuffed with Marcona almonds, duck kofta cupped around cinnamon sticks. It's all peppered into a feast of showstoppers that includes savory smoked trout with spicy grilled cukes, dry-aged duck with a duck fat pilaf so mesmerizing it rivals the trademark crispy Persian rice, and a delicate, kataifi-sprinkled labneh cheesecake that will vanish in moments. You’ll see many of these moves — grilled meats, airy hummus, detailed service — at other CookNSolo spots, of course, but the perpetual inventiveness and flawless execution make Zahav the brightest gem in the bunch.

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Restaurant Details

237 St James Pl, Philadelphia, PA, 19106
(215) 625-8800
http://zahavrestaurant.com
zahavrestaurant
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